Flying machine



Sept. 17, 1935. .1. J. FITZGERALD FLYING MACHINE Filed June 17, 1950INVENTOR ATTORNEY Patented Sept. 17, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 4Claims.

This invention relates to flying machines of the heavier-than-air typeand more particularly to improvements in their driving, raising andlanding means.

An object of the invention is to provide a propeller at each end, andpairs of helicopters housed in vertical openings at the front and rearof the fuselage, the main end propellers being partial-'- Iy housed incowls rigidly engagedin the fuselage, these cowls being based on the airturbine principle, performing the double duty of drawing air down overthe face of the turbine and creating a suction within its hollowinterior.

A further feature is in the provision of a series of pairs of wings, andailerons, arranged at different inclinations and in different verticalplanes, gradually decreasing in length from the foremost to the rear,providing an effective over all lift, and a lateral balance.

Another purpose is to produce a machine divided longitudinally intoequal compartments, and to arrange the landing wheels to be .entirelyreceived within the fuselage when not required for use.

These and many other advantageous objects which will become apparent asthe description proceeds, are attained by the novel design, constructionand combination of parts hereinafter described, and shown in theaccompanying drawing, constituting a material part of this disclosure,and in which:-

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of an embodiment of the invention,parts being broken away to disclose the construction.

Figure 2 is a plan view of the same, drawn to a diminished scale.

Figure 3 is a transverse sectional view taken on line 3-3 of Figure 1.

The preferred form of the fuselage II), as shown, is elliptical in crosssection, with round ends, and provided with a central partition II,which may be hollow at the top and bottom, forming longitudinalcompartments which, together with side compartments, constitute a rigidbut light weight body.

At a point near the forward end of the fuselage are a pair of wings l5,extending oppositely outward from near the top of the body and slantingdownwardly at their trailing edges to the ailerons IS, the wings beingso constructed as to give a positive lifting effect.

A second pair of wings I! are disposed midway of the length, and alsothe height of the fuselage, these wings being horizontal and of lesserlength,

provided with ailerons l8, and may be considered as neutral in theirlifting capacity.

A third pair of wings I9 of still lesser length are provided withailerons 2!] at their trailing edges,

these wings extending outwardly from the lower,

rear portion of the fuselage, and are tilted slightly upward at theirrear edges, presenting a negative effect in operation.

Towards the front of the fuselage and midway in its length, are doors 2!and 22, the latter being rearward and well towards the central maincompartment within the fuselage, which is provided with a series ofwindows 23 as indicated.

A single pair of windows 24 is arranged in the forward part of thefuselage on each side so as to provide an outlook for the operator.

A pair of circular openings 25 and 26 extend perpendicularly through theside compartments, these openings being encased in the Walls of thecasings which are tubular but converging slightly 20 towards their ends.

Similar openings 2'5 and 28 are arranged in the rear portion of thefuselage, each opening being provided with a shiftable cover, asindicated by the primed numerals. 1

Mounted in these openings are inner casings 29 provided as housings forvertical shafts 3 I--32, these shafts having secured at their outer endspairs of propellers 33-34, similar propellers 3536 being fixed on thelower portions of the shafts, which are driven by gears 31-38 on shafts39-40, in turn driven by the motor shaft.

These motors are indicated at 4|42, respectively, at front and rear ofthe fuselage, and directly connected with shafts driving the mainforward and rear propellers, respectively 43 and 44.

Rigidly mounted on the forward end of the fuselage is a generallyconical cowl 45 having an opening 41 at the front and an interiordeflector 49 adapted to direct the inflowing current of air to the outerportions of the propeller blades, which in turn force the air rearwardlyagainst the oval end of the fuselage, thereby creating a stream lineeffect, as well as presenting air under pressure to the propeller tips,increasing the speed of the machine.

A similar cowl 46 is disposed at the rear end of the fuselage, having anopening 48 partially enclosing a similar deflector 50, whereby a similareffect may be obtained by the rear propellers 40.

Rigidly attached to the rear cowl 46 is the fixed portion of a steeringrudder 5! having hingedly attached a swinging outer portion 52, and also55 fixed on the sides of the rear cowl 46 are horizontal rudders 53having hinged directing vanes 54 by which the machine may be elevated ordepressed.

Formed in the under side of the fuselage body, near the front arepockets 55, similar pockets 56 being disposed in the rear portion, thesepockets being arranged to receive the landing wheels 51 connected bylinks 58 with the fuselage and operated by bars 59 in such manner as tohouse the landing wheels completely within the body of the fuselage whenthe machine is in the air,

From the foregoing it will be seen that the flying machine hereindescribed is based on the air turbine principle, which gives a vacuumeffect, which is new in design, the principle involved being that, onepropeller performs the double duty of drawing the air inwardly, whilecreating a suction at its interior.

Due to the lifting effect of the propellers 33 to 36, a direct liftingeffect is obtained on the helicopter principle, which may be usedindependently or in connection with the main forward and rearpropellers.

It is further noticeable that the landing wheels may fold into the hullof the machine when landing and if landing be made in water the openingsmay be closed.

Although the improvements have been described with considerable detailand with respect to certain particular forms of the invention, it is notdesired to be limited to such details since many changes andmodifications may well be made without departing from the spirit andscope of the invention in its broadest aspect.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desiredto secure by Letters Patent, is:-

1. A flying machine comprising a fuselage having propellers at each end,a cowl enveloping each propeller and the end of the fuselage, thefuselage having vertically disposed air passages adjacent the inner endof each cowl, and propellers mounted in the vertically disposed passagesto create a downward air pressure for aiding in lifting the flyingmachine, the air under pressure from the cowls passing over the. surfaceof the fuselage adjacent the lower ends of the air passages and creatinga suction.

2. A flying machine comprising a fuselage having propellers at each end,pairs of wings projecting from the fuselage adjacent the propellers, acowl enveloping each propeller and having the inner ends terminatingadjacent the wings, the fuselage having vertically disposed air passagesadjacent each pair of wings, and propellers mounted in the verticallydisposed passages.

3. A flying machine comprising a fuselage having propellers at each end,the fuselage having vertically disposed air passages adjacent each endof the fuselage, propellers mounted in the vertical passages, a cowlenveloping each of the first mentioned propellers and. having an openingat the outer end, the inner end of each cowl being disposed in spacedrelation with the fuselage adjacent the vertical passages therebyproviding an annular opening to produce currents of air under pressureover the ends of the fuselage and the ends of the vertical passages.

4. A flying machine comprising a fuselage having propellers at each end,a cowl enveloping each propeller and the end of the fuselage, the outerends of the cowls having openings, the inner ends of the cowls beingdisposed in spaced relation with the fuselage to provide an unobstructedannular opening between the fuselage and the inner end of the cowl sothat air under pressure is forced over the surface of the ends of thefuselage and the surface of said fuselage, the fuselage havingvertically disposed air passages, propellers disposed in said airpassages, pairs of wings projecting from the fuselage, a pair of wingsbeing disposed adjacent the upper ends 40 of certain of the verticallydisposed air passages,

the other pair of wings being disposed adjacent the lower ends of theother air passages.

JAMES J. FITZGERALD.

